


Star Shower

by thiccsoo



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Apocalypse, Dystopia, Fluff, Hospitals, Light Angst, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 19:44:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11858397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thiccsoo/pseuds/thiccsoo
Summary: Kyungsoo meets the love of his life in circumstances he’d never thought were possible. From that day on, young and adventurous love blossoms between him and Kai. Until one day four years later, 2092 he’s awoken in a rehabilitation hospital for those affected by the coma, but without his fiancé.





	Star Shower

**Author's Note:**

> sup peeps it has been a long journey writing this... it's been.. up and down like a rollercoaster if u will.. smh.. to the prompter i'm rly sorry if this wasnt what u were expecting kskadkslsf. i had a rly hard time finishing this, so if it seems rushed im sorry. this is my first plotty fic ive actually finished sO big thanks to my beautiful beta whom i love who pushed me to keep writing. enjOY

Kyungsoo sits in his living room with his laptop in front of him, he hasn’t written anything in a while. His publisher is pushing him, everyone is at this point. His phone was constantly ringing so he had to turn it off. He knows he has about an hour or less of quiet space before Baekhyun comes knocking his door down.

A new idea for a new book is always the worst, but the money isn’t. He might have a few successful books, but he still lives in a tiny apartment in the outskirts of Goyang. Not even a high-rise apartment in central Seoul, but somehow that might seem lucky at this point.

Pushing his laptop to the side he turns on the TV, the usual newscaster is talking about the mass amount of meteors there has been lately all over the world. Kyungsoo hasn’t been following, but he’s secretly scared shitless. None of them has been close to Seoul yet, but it’s just a matter of time. 

He picks up his laptop, he has to do something to distract himself from what’s going on in the world, and writing will do just that. He starts typing and he disappears into the world of words and sentences. 

It isn’t until someone’s aggressively banging on the door he exits his own little world. He grudgingly puts his laptop next to him on the couch and gets up to open the door, and when his eyes meet with the others everything seems to crumble.

 

 

Kyungsoo hates Baekhyun; he could’ve survived without going to the club tonight. He has work tomorrow and lots of papers to look through, but nothing beats Baekhyun’s convincing techniques; which includes puppy eyes and a wobbly bottom lip, which isn’t cute, no that’s not why they work. It’s revolting and Kyungsoo would rather go than look at that for more than two seconds.

When they enter the club, the smell of sweat, smoke and alcohol hits him all at once. It should all make him want to gag, but Baekhyun drags him here so frequently it’s become a casualty to him. He scans the room for any familiar faces, but the crowd is too dense to make any faces out. His eyes land on the bartender, dirty blond hair and what seems like a permanent smirk on his face. 

They walk up to the bar and Kyungsoo follows reluctantly, “four tequila shots please!” Baekhyun leans on the bar to get the bartenders attention.

“Are you crazy? You sure you want to start out like that?” Kyungsoo shakes his head at his friend. Nothing like getting wasted on a work night

“Loosen up big boy, you need a little fun” Baekhyun winks at him.

The bartender comes to set four empty shots glasses in front of them and Baekhyun all but squeals in excitement, Kyungsoo just rolls his eyes at him.

The bartender’s eyes flicker towards him then, and Kyungsoo catches his gaze. Their eyes linger on each other for what seems like an eternity, but the other is suddenly pouring tequila in their glasses and placing lime and salt in front of them.

The bartender looks up and their eyes meet. Kyungsoo feels dizzy as if he’s already taken all four shots. He feels like the other is working in slow motion, but before he’s thought about it the bartender smirks at him.

“Enjoy.” and he’s off to help someone else.

“You think he even noticed I was here too?” Baekhyun teases. 

Kyungsoo scoffs, “Of course he did”. 

They down their first shot, both grimacing at the bitterness. The bartender is working but his eyes are fixed on Kyungsoo and the drop that escapes his mouth and drips down his chin; he bites his lip and finishes up all the orders as quick as he can. 

They take their second shot and Kyungsoo is already regretting it. He knows Baekhyun is going to want more already, but to his surprise he only orders them a beer each, but from a new bartender. Kyungsoo wonders where the other one went. 

“Let’s go, Chanyeol has a table in the back.” Baekhyun grabs him by the wrist and is about to drag him away when a hand wraps around Baekhyun’s wrist.

The bartender meets his eyes then, “Hey cutie, you look like you need some fun.” he smirks at him. Baekhyun wiggles his hand away. “Well there’s the fun you need, I’ll see you. Remember I’ll be in the back.” and he’s off without him.

“Chug that and come with me,” the other says, gesturing to Kyungsoo’s full beer. His eyes widen, _how is he supposed to do that?_

The other raises his eyebrow in challenge and he’s quick to put the beer to his lips and start chugging it. A few drops escape his mouth and the other leans forward to lick them up.

Kyungsoo is surprised, but he keeps drinking until the beer is gone.

“Nice.” the blond grabs the beer and puts it behind them on the counter. He winks at his co-worker before dragging Kyungsoo in between people and onto the dance floor.

People make way for them, which Kyungsoo finds odd, the blond smiles and waves at quite a few so he guesses that has something to do with it. 

They stop in the middle of the dance floor, “My names Kai, you?” he starts moving his body to the music and Kyungsoo feels stupid when he starts moving his hips in a very inexperienced way. 

“It’s Kyungsoo.” He answers, and Kai grabs his waist and helps him move the others hips along his own. “How old are you?” the bartender almost yells over the music. Kyungsoo nibbles at his lip worriedly, the other seems way too young for him and he’s scared it’s going to ruin everything before it even starts. He decides to take the risk instead of lying. 

“I’m 28!” the other doesn’t answer in any way and Kyungsoo is scared he didn’t hear him over the music. 

But then he nods, “I’m 22” and he has this smirk on his face that just makes Kyungsoo want to wipe it right off. 

“Well 28 is decent, do you want to come home with me?” Kai sneaks a hand into his back pocket and squeezes Kyungsoo’s ass.

And Kyungsoo is not thinking straight when he answers, “Sure”.

 

 

Kyungsoo also isn’t sure he’s thinking straight when they start going out and his friends continues to tease him about his ‘ _sugar baby’._ But he still loves Kai and moving in with him on their one year anniversary is not a mistake. 

They had their first date a nice spring night at some random café Kai really wanted to take him to. It was nice, Kyungsoo hadn’t been on a date for a long time and Kai really treated him like he was his world and nothing less.

  

 

“Babe can you pick up some eggs on the way home?” Kyungsoo says as he throws away the empty egg carton. Kai wraps his arms around the shorter, nuzzling his nose into the elder’s hair. 

“If you promise me a blowjob.” Kyungsoo elbows him in the stomach, but not too hard. 

“I can promise you some of these pancakes.” Kyungsoo turns around in Kai’s arms to wrap his own around the younger’s neck.

Their lips find each other without help. It’s sweet and soft, chapped lips gliding over each other. Kyungsoo’s hand travels up to play with the baby hairs at his boyfriend’s nape.

Kai almost purrs, “I would take you up against the counter, but I’m in a rush”.

Kyungsoo gives the other a little peck before pulling away, “Way to ruin the mood” but Kai can tell he isn’t mad. 

“See you later, ill be back early today” and he’s out the door after grabbing some pancakes.

It’s Kyungsoo’s day off but he still has papers to go through before he returns to the office tomorrow. He gets all his work papers and sits down on the couch with the TV on in the background. 

Monggu begs to get up and Kyungsoo has a weak spot for him so he pats the seat next to him, and Monggu gladly jumps up and gets settled. Kyungsoo starts petting him and his thoughts wander back to last night. 

They’ve been together for two years now and last night Kyungsoo had brought up marriage and Kai didn’t seem revolted by the idea. Two years isn’t a long time, but their relationship is strong and Kyungsoo wouldn’t know how to live without Kai at this point. Sure he gets mad easily and he’s stubborn, but Kyungsoo loves him and that’s all that matters.

Before he knows it he’s drifted off to sleep. 

“Honey I’m home” Kai sings when he enters the apartment, but it’s quiet sans the murmurings of the TV. When he enters the living room he finds Kyungsoo asleep on the couch with Monggu and he coos at the sight. He takes a few seconds to stand there and admire them. Cause there’s nothing he loves more than these two. 

Kai scratches Monggu behind the ear and goes on to wake his sleeping boyfriend. He leaves kisses all over his face, which makes Kyungsoo stir and complain.

“ngnn thop beb” Kai chuckles, his boyfriend is adorable. “Get up Kyungsoo it’s almost one o clock”

“Hm?” it takes awhile before Kyungsoo realizes, “Oh my god! I’ve been asleep all day!” his eyes shoot open and right in front of him is his sweet boyfriend grinning at him. 

He realizes all his papers are scattered, “I didn’t get any work done!” Kai clicks his tongue at him and starts gathering all the papers. 

“Good I’m glad you didn’t, you deserve some rest once in a while” Kyungsoo hums in appreciation, “did you buy eggs?” Kai smirks, “Yeah so did I earn that blowjob?”

 

 

On a typical day at the office Kyungsoo looks through books of unknown authors and checks for whatever spelling and grammar mistakes there may be. He’s had this job for as long as he remembers and he hates being at the office, but his contract stated he had to spend at least two workdays working there and the rest of the week he could decide where he spend his working time. Which Kyungsoo usually decided to use at home on his couch, which he’s officially dubbed his work station, since their apartment only had one room and the couch was just way more comfortable than sitting at the dining table all day. 

Just as he’s finishing up another chapter of the book he’s currently editing called ‘Another Moon’ by an unknown author. At his company, they keep the authors hidden so when you’re working on someone’s work there’s no leaking of famous authors stuff.

His phone vibrates on the table next to him, and hoping its Kai he picks it up to check, only to be disappointed.

 

**I Baek u to stop:**

u love me right????? :-** <33 

He needs a moment after that, he sits back and takes a deep inhale before letting out a long sigh of frustration, cause that’s what Baekhyun does to him.

**Kyungsoo:**

Shut up

**I Baek u to stop:**

pls I need ur help?? 

**Kyungsoo:**

What is it? 

**I Baek u to stop:**

Can u send me nice food pics 

**Kyungsoo:**

bye 

 

Just as he’s had enough of Baekhyun, he gets another message and he’s about to ignore it when he realizes its Kai, he shouldn’t be using his work on these two, but it’s irresistible.

 

**Babe:**

Tough day at work? 

**Kyungsoo:**

Not anymore ;) 

**Babe:**

Ur cute

**Kyungsoo:**

Ur hot 

**Babe:**

Wanna go on a date tonight? 

**Kyungsoo:**

Depends 

**Babe:**

On whut 

**Kyungsoo:**

Where ur taking me 

**Babe:**

Our fave café ;)

**Kyungsoo:**

Uh huh? And then whut? ;)

**Babe:**

And then maybe a little secret ;)) :p

 

Kyungsoo shouldn’t be blushing, he’s 29 now for Christ sake, but he loves Kai and he loves all his little ways of making him smile, even though Kai might not make that much money, he works two jobs and he still tries to keep their relationship exciting with dates and random little trips. Kyungsoo’s job is rather flexible since he can usually bring it everywhere. It’s only been a year, but everything and everywhere they’ve gone has been amazing, not only cause of the actual beautiful places Kai finds, but also because it’s with Kai.

 

 

Today Kai has an off day from his work at the diner, so Kyungsoo decided today was going to be an at home work day.

“You’re so cute” Kyungsoo teases as Kai lays on their couch without his shirt and a bowl of popcorn on his stomach, grease all over his mouth, popcorn scattered around him. Kai looks up at him. His mouth stuffed with popcorn, he smiles, “Wanna join?”

They’ve been together for three years now, living together is a challenge sometimes, but oh how Kyungsoo loves this idiot. 

“Don’t eat too much, you wont have room for dinner.” Kyungsoo shakes his head. He goes to pick up all the couch pillows Kai has tossed on the floor, but the other has put down his bowl in favor of pulling Kyungsoo down on top of him. 

“What are you watching?” Kyungsoo asks him, as they lay there stretched across the couch. “I’m not sure, it had already started when I found it” the older shakes his head in mock disappointment, “Of course” Kai smiles down at him.

“Do you want to watch something else cutie?” Kyungsoo bites his lip, “No I just wanna do this.” his lips meet Kai’s softly before pulling away.

“Urgh you’re all greasy.” Kai smirks before leaning in and rubbing his greasy mouth on Kyungsoo’s clean one.

“There, now we’re both greasy, problem solved.” then he leans back in before Kyungsoo can complain. He sucks lightly on the other’s bottom lip; Kyungsoo reciprocates by taking Kai’s top lip and sucking slowly and softly before pulling away.

“You’re so disgusting” he gives the other a peck and then a few more before deepening the kiss. Kai moans before shifting so Kyungsoo is in between his thighs, bulges rubbing together. 

The younger moves their pelvises together grinding up against Kyungsoo. The latter licks his way into Kai’s hot mouth, their tongues gliding against each other before Kyungsoo starts sucking on the younger’s tongue. 

He lets it go with a pop and kisses the younger’s nose before getting off of him.

“Where are you going?” Kyungsoo picks up the last pillow and throws it at Kai, “To make dinner, unless you want to starve.” the younger follows him into the kitchen and hugs his back as he sets out the chopping board. 

Kai grinds against the elder’s soft ass, moaning in his ear, before he’s pushed away by Kyungsoo. 

“Soo are you really going to blue ball us both?” the elder snickers, “Hmm no I’m just going to let you watch me cook you dinner with a boner.” Kai clears his throat, feeling fidgety from arousal. “Well talk about being domestic” 

After dinner Kai finally get’s what he wants and they lay together in the aftermath. Sweaty but full of love, they talk for hours before they fall asleep. Kyungsoo safely wrapped in Kais arms.

 

  

When Kyungsoo wakes up he isn’t in his arms anymore and he’s definitely not in their room either. When his eyes have adjusted to just waking up he looks around, the room is all white and when he looks down himself the bed is all white too. He rubs the stark white sheets with his palm, but his arm is hard to move, it all feels foreign like he hasn’t moved or touched anything in a while, _years even_. 

Then people rush in and Kyungsoo feels tired again, the room spins before his eyes slip closed.

 

 

He wakes up, this time back in Kai’s arms. It weirdly feels foreign and he gets ready for work feeling weird and drowsy.

 

 

At work he thinks about his dream and how weird it was, where was he? It was all white and clean, the only place he could think of would be a hospital but _why was he in a hospital?_ He lifts his palm to look at it. His fingers skim the surface of his palm and if he wasn’t so tired maybe he would realize he couldn’t feel anything.

 

_“He’s not completely gone again, he seems to be floating between consciousness and coma state”_

_The monitors beep, indicating his heart is still beating along with it._

 

He works fast and sloppy the entire day, something he’s never done in all the years he’s worked at the office. It’s weird; he never gets this sick, never had more than a mild cold since he was a child. His mom used to tell him to take all these vitamins and since she passed, he has tried his best to take them everyday, and in the long run it helped, never went down with anything serious. Until today that is. 

Today he feels empty, like his heart has been pried out of his chest, but the weird thing is, he doesn’t even feel like its his chest. His entire body feels foreign. He’s sleepy and all he can think about is getting home to Kai. He wants Kai. 

He rushes trough all the pages he has to fix by today, missing half the mistakes there’s been made, but he doesn’t care for any of that right now.

Finishing up, he waits for the time to hit exactly 4’ o clock, then he starts stuffing all the papers and his laptop into his bag.

He gets up on wobbly feet, and he wobbles out of the office. Not thinking he’ll be able to take the bus home, he tries as best as he can to hale a taxi.

In the taxi he almost drifts off to sleep with the sounds of faint beeps and people murmuring around him, but then the taxi driver swerves around a car and he jolts up in his seat. Scared of what will happen if he falls asleep, he fidgets with his pants trying to stay occupied.

 

 

When he tumbles out of the taxi in front of his and Kai’s apartment he’s lucky to be caught by his very surprised boyfriend. 

“Soo! What the hell?!” he pulls Kyungsoo up to look at his face and he’s surprised by the dark bags beneath his eyes. He shakes him gently, “Kai is that you?” the other is surprised by his boyfriend’s state, “Y-yes it’s me, baby. Are you okay? Are you sick?” Kyungsoo opens his eyes slowly.

“Yeah I think so.. I missed you” a little sad smile blossoms on his pale face. “Me too I missed you, let’s get you in bed” Kai answers 

Kai hauls him up to their apartment as fast as he can, struggles to get him into their bedroom and lay him in bed to gently take off his clothes. He puts him in a clean t-shirt, the older preferring to only wear his shirt and underwear to bed.

Kyungsoo enjoys this. It’s nothing like Kai would ever do. Kai is sweet and caring at times but he’s childish and not mature in any way. 

Kyungsoo falls asleep but this time he dreams of Kai. He dreams he and Kai are laying in a big open field underneath the starry night sky, talking about everything their heart desires, Kai confesses he’s in love with him, which is odd, since they’d told each other a long time ago, but this is different this person is different, it’s almost like Kyungsoo can hear him whisper _“I love you”_ , almost like he can feel the other’s hot breath fan over his cold ear.

 

 

_Jongin leans over and cups Kyungsoo’s face with a warm hand; Kyungsoo’s sleeping body shivers from the touch._

 

 

The next morning Kai insist Kyungsoo stays home from work for at least a week and Kyungsoo had never seen the younger that worked up about anything. 

“NO! Kyungsoo you’re staying home and that’s final. I already called your office and let them know while you were asleep!” 

Kyungsoo is at a loss for words, he has no idea why Kai is so adamant about this, it’s not like he was diagnosed with some terrible disease. He was only feeling a little light headed.

 

_What does Kai know?_

Kyungsoo spends his entire day thinking about his odd dream and about Kai's change in demeanor.

 

 

When Kai comes home he’s bought groceries and he places them on their kitchen counter before making his way into the living room where Kyungsoo is sitting. 

“How are you feeling?” Kyungsoo thinks he’s cute like this, when he’s concerned about him. 

“Just as fine as this morning.” Kai let’s out a heavy sigh, but ignores the tone in the other’s voice, “Okay I’ll warm the food I got at the grocery store”, Kai leaves the living room with a sunken expression on his face, his brows are knitted together, which Kyungsoo thinks makes him look older, something that definitely doesn’t fit the younger just yet. 

Kyungsoo gets up and follows the younger with silent footsteps into the kitchen. He’s slightly scared since they never settled their argument this morning and Kai seems a little on edge. 

“I can cook Kai, it’s no problem” he runs a tentative hand down the younger’s back, treading slowly, sure to not over step any boundaries. 

Kai ignores him and continues to read the instructions on their TV dinners. Kyungsoo sighs; he’ll just start cooking if the younger doesn’t want to cooperate.

The elder starts pulling pots and pans out of the cabinet, which catches the other’s attention, “Stop babe I’m going to heat this, go lay down” Kai gestures to the TV dinner in his hand, but Kyungsoo just keeps going, searching for vegetables, and wondering what he could throw together. 

“I said stop Kyungsoo!” but now Kyungsoo has had enough of his snabby boyfriend, he’s tried treading slowly, but maybe the younger needs to be reminded he’s not a child. 

“Honestly Kai, do I look sick to you? Just let me cook something much better for us than those.” he nods at the food in Kai’s hand, before turning around to gather some tomatoes. 

“Stop” Kai says firmly, but the other chooses to ignore him now. Kyungsoo can almost feel the heat boiling off of his boyfriend, which is ridiculous, _why is he getting so worked up about this._

_“_ I said stop. _”_ Kai really seems adamant about this and Kyungsoo is surprised by his tone, but the younger is being stupid and Kyungsoo isn’t going to stop. 

“Stop Kyungsoo you can’t handle it!” Kai grabs him by the arm so hard Kyungsoo ends up dropping the cucumber he was holding, it lands on their kitchen floor with a thud that echoes in the almost silent apartment. 

“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo’s voice comes out quieter than he’d expected it to. Kai’s breathing is heavy when he thrust Kyungsoo forwards by the arm, dragging him into their living room. 

He stands there breathing heavily once again before pushing Kyungsoo on to the couch. 

Kyungsoo is in shock, Kai has never been like this, sure he’s energetic and spontaneous, but he’s never been like _this_ to get his point across. 

“What the hell Kai?” Kai paces around the living room, walking in circles. Kyungsoo follows him with his eyes. “You just don’t get it, you need to relax Soo.” Kyungsoo scoffs at the younger. 

“I need to relax? Kai you just pulled my arm with so much force, I can still feel it.” Kai stops pacing and stands still with his back turned to Kyungsoo. 

Time goes by with Kyungsoo watching the younger’s back as it moves with his breathing. It slows down to a normal pace before Kai turns around worry written on his face. 

“I’m sorry.” the younger steps from foot to foot fidgeting with his hands, “it’s just.. I’m just worried Kyungsoo” 

“Yeah? Do you always pull people around when you’re worried about them?” the younger flinches at Kyungsoo’s tone. “Please I’m sorry, I was stressed and wasn’t thinking.” Kai steps tentatively forward and when Kyungsoo doesn’t do anything he sits down next to him. 

“It’s fine.” Kyungsoo says in a whisper. Kai pulls him into a hug, and they both sigh contently. 

But Kyungsoo doesn’t hear Kai whisper, “There’s not much time left” into the crook of his neck.

 

  

The next morning he wakes up to an empty bed, and an empty heart, emotions doesn’t come easy right now. Usually at this point he would be crying but he feels _so empty._ He drifts off to sleep again, so disoriented that he doesn’t hear the sounds of pots and pans coming from the kitchen. 

But Kai is in the kitchen trying to make breakfast and make up for what happened yesterday. It was never his intention for it to go that far, his emotions got a hold of themselves and he couldn’t control them. It’s hard when you know what’s happening, but the person themselves stays oblivious of what they created. 

He sneaks in and sets the tray of food on the side table, as he goes to shake Kyungsoo awake. “Soo it’s time to wake up.” he shakes him a little and the older makes small sounds of disapproval. 

“Make the beeping stop.” Kyungsoo mumbles and buries his face into the pillow. Kai clears his throat, not really sure how to handle this situation. 

“Wake up I made you breakfast babe.” Kyungsoo blinks his eyes open as the beeping fades away and all he can hear is Kai’s breathing, he lifts his head to make sure he’s in their bedroom. 

“Where were you when I woke up?” the others smile spreads and lights up his entire face. “I’m sorry I was making you breakfast to make up for yesterday” the older chuckles a little at him, “You made breakfast?” Kai’s face falls a little but his smile is quickly back. “Well I _tried_ , I ended up just making some oats with fruit and yoghurt” he gestures for the other to sit up as he places the tray in front of him. 

“Uh, I’ll clean the kitchen don’t worry.” Kyungsoo glares at him, “How bad is it?” he laughs nervously, “Not _that_ bad honestly” Kai answers, but Kyungsoo just rolls his eyes playfully and starts eating what he made him. 

The next day Kyungsoo still feels like Kai is watching his every move, but at least he let’s him do what he wants to.

 

  

The day before their four-year anniversary Kai invites Kyungsoo to a fancy restaurant and Kyungsoo rejects going right away. 

“But why Soo? Please I’ve been saving up.” Kyungsoo sighs, “And that’s exactly why. We’re not going to waste our money on a restaurant.” Kai gets up from the couch. “Listen here, yes we are, I want to take you, you can’t reject it. I ordered the table already.” 

Kyungsoo wants to scream, there’s no way he can say no, “Okay.” he whispers. “This is why I waited till last minute to ask. Babe I just want to have fun.” the elder looks up at him and he can tell Kai really wants this. 

The next day they both get dressed up in nice suits and head out for the night. When they get downstairs a car is waiting for them and the chauffeur holds the door open for them to step in. 

“Please look a little more excited about this,” the younger pleads, Kyungsoo sighs. “I know I’m sorry, it’s just so out of the blue.” the younger grabs his hand and leads him to the car. 

On the drive there the elder’s mood lifts and he decides he should embrace the moment, he loves Kai and he planned this for them, so he’s going to enjoy it. 

They arrive at a rooftop restaurant and Kai smirks at him as they’re lead to their table. 

Kai orders them food and they settle in to talk about work and their friends, until the food arrive. 

Kyungsoo has one of the best dinners he’s had in a long time. 

He brings him down to the beach afterwards and they walk along the pier watching the sun set. “Babe there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask.” Kyungsoo turns to look at him and just as he meets his eyes, Kai gets down on one knee. 

Kyungsoo’s jaw drops slightly in shock as Kai pulls out a ring from his pocket. 

“Will you marry me?” 

Kyungsoo doesn’t know what to say, he feels his eyes pricking with tears, “Yes”. 

This night has been one of the best nights he’s ever had and it’s all thanks to his amazing fiancé, he’s nothing more than happy to fall asleep in this mans arms.

 

  

He blinks his eyes open, they’re all dry and foreign. Looking around with dry eyes, he sees nothing but blurry white walls. He quickly realizes he’s back in the hospital. He blinks a couple of times, trying to moisten his eyes. A nurse puts a gentle hand on his shoulder and he jumps a little from the sudden action; he hadn’t noticed there was anyone else in the room. 

“He’s up.” at the nurse’s words he realizes even more nurses start gathering around him. He tries to get up, but his muscles are weak and the nurse gently pushes him back again. “You should refrain from trying anything too fast.” he thinks he hears her whisper _“It’s been a while after all”_ to the other nurses. Kyungsoo is confused; did he pass out in his sleep? Did Kai bring him to the hospital? 

Through his half lidded eyes he sees her smiling at him, but Kyungsoo refuses to believe this is real, this must be a dream, just like last time. He closes his eyes determined to wake up next to Kai. 

But the nurse gently shakes him, “I’m sorry we’re going to take some blood and you have to keep your eyes open so we can tell if you pass out.” It’s then he notices one of the other nurses is in the process of taking his blood. 

“Where am I?” he croaks out, just above a whisper. The nurse helps him sit up in a more comfortable position, so he can get a better view of the room. “You’re at Goyang Rehabilitation Hospital, but please wait until we’ve fetched some water until you speak.” _fine_ he thinks, doesn’t feel nice to talk anyways. He opts to look around the room and as another nurse enters with a pitcher of water and a bowl on a tray, he notices the big window by the door, overlooking into a just as white hallway and a figure looming around, but he doesn’t see their face before a nurse pulls the curtains. 

He’s handed a glass of water and he intends to take a sip, but when the glass leaves his lips he has already finished it. He immediately feels sick to his stomach, but he suppresses the feeling of needing to throw up. 

The three nurses giggles as he clears his throat, “Why am I here?” his voice is still raw and raspy but he doesn’t care. 

The three of them look at each other; this is the most awkward part they think. The one who pulled the curtain speaks up, “You’ve been in a coma” 

Kyungsoo almost chokes on dry air; “I’ve been in a what now?” 

The first nurse is quick, “Don’t worry you’ll get all the details later, it’s too early for this. We’re going to leave you to eat now” the tray with a bowl of hot soup is placed in front of him. “Don’t worry if you’re having difficulty eating it’s best to start out small.” the nurse smiles at a confused Kyungsoo, “You also might throw it up since the stomach haven’t taken food in a _very_ long time.” odd, Kyungsoo thinks. The nurses start to make their way out of his room. 

“Wait! I’m sorry I’ll stop asking questions but.. how long exactly?” the kind nurse sighs and her shoulders deflate, “I.. I’d say about four years.” he gasps not even able to process or come to a thought, the words of the nurse ring inside his head. 

_4 years 4 years 4 years 4 years 4 years 4 years 4 years 4 years 4 years 4 years 4 years 4 years_

It keeps going; he doesn’t even notice he’s alone now. It’s then thoughts and worries come to him, he didn’t get to marry Kai. What if Kai had left him while he was in the hospital? What if Kai met someone else and has been waiting for him to wake up to call it quits.

  

 

He stands by the window over looking into the hallway, but theres nothing to see other than the opposite white wall. It’s been two weeks and there’s not much to do other than watch people walk by. He’d asked one of the nurses called Catherine, who he had become close to if there was a possibility of him getting a book or maybe a TV. She had said no, that it would be too much information for his brain to take in _his condition,_ whatever that means. 

If only that idiot Baekhyun was here, he would make him feel better. 

They’d told him small bits of what his condition was, but nothing too major. Kyungsoo only knows he’s been in a coma for four years; they told him that when his brain was ready he’d figure out _why_ he was in a coma. So for now he’ll have to people watch. Lots of patients are allowed out of their rooms, apparently everyone remembers majority of what they’re supposed to remember faster than what’s happening to Kyungsoo, so they’re all let out fairly quickly. Some after a few days, others a week, but Kyungsoo has remembered _nothing_ so far and it’s been two whole weeks. 

Kyungsoo isn’t allowed to leave his room, but nurses and doctors come by to talk to him and make sure he’s doing all right, and asking about his progress and for what he remembers. 

“My name is Do Kyungsoo I’m 32 and I’m an editor. I live in Goyang in an apartment with my fiancé Kai.” Catherine sighs and the doctor shakes his head, he scribbles down something on his little clipboard. “I’m very sorry to tell you, but what you’ve been experiencing over the past four years, have all been your imagination”. 

Kyungsoo’s jaw drops, he doesn’t know what to say and he looks to Catherine for help, but she just shrugs her shoulders. 

“Don’t worry Kyungsoo, it’ll come at some point.” the doctor smiles at him and gets up to leave, just like that. 

Catherine looks at him with empathy, “I will bring in some snacks later just.. don’t think too much. I know it’s hard, I see people remembering and not remembering every day and I honestly believe in you. It really will come to you at some point.” Kyungsoo sighs, she’s his assigned nurse and she’s been so kind to him, but he’s been so down and confused all this time that he’s never thought to talk to her. 

“What if I’m the first one that never remembers?” she steps closer, a serene silence falls over them until she tips his chin up to meet his eyes, “That wont happen sweetie.” he smiles and he’s suddenly overcome with thankfulness. She radiates a nice homely feel and it reminds him of him and his mom’s little home growing up. 

His mom passed away when he was 20, she had Kyungsoo at an old age and loosing his dad when he was 11 had been hard on them both.

 

 

He’s been standing by the window for half an hour, now thinking about his mom. It’s too much and he considers going to take a nap, but then he sees him again. He sees him a couple of times a week, at one point he thought he was hallucinating, he wondered if that came with _his condition._

 

_He’s an idiot, but it’s hard shaking off the habit of coming here, he’s been visiting him for the last three months. It feels so empty and lonely not talking to him_

 

  

The next day the sudden urge to get all his thoughts out hit him, and he asks Catherine if he can have a pen and paper. 

_Finally,_ something to do, he thinks. He starts writing all day, something that feels natural and he finally feels content and less scared of being here.

  

 

A few nights ago Kyungsoo had sat alone with a pen and paper, jotting down small notes as he was thinking about anything that would come to mind. It wasn’t until he jotted down the word ‘ _book’_ , and his first memory hit him. 

_Do Kyungsoo best selling author,_ it was odd, since he only remembers ever being an editor, he jotted down all these words as they were coming to him, he could feel a strong headache coming, but he continued to try and figure this out. 

He remembered sitting in the living room working, not correcting, but _writing._ A major wave of pain hit him and he clenched his head, as memories of the TV playing in the background rang through his brain. 

_“Major meteors crashing towards earth, some have already fallen and destroyed cities both small and big in the following countries; Russia, Italy, France, Sweden and following states of America; California and Texas. South Korean citizens please evacuate towards the South part of our country, scientist say a big meteor will hit Seoul it’s just a matter of days. We do not know how much time there is left, please remember it will hit at least all cities bordering Seoul. Thank you.”_

Kyungsoo fell to the ground clutching his head, the pain is excruciating, making him forget any way to get help, he starts taking deep breaths trying to calm himself down, which seems to be helping. 

After what feels like an eternity, but is more like half an hour, he gets up to sit on the floor. His head still doesn’t feel right, but he doesn’t want to bother anyone with his troubles. He feels exhausted, he tries getting up from the floor, but he’s dizzy and he has to sit there for a while, it’ll be fine he thinks, it’ll work out. 

He picked up the pad with his brainstorming on, for him to read through tomorrow. As he’s trying to settle into bed as well as he can in these hospital beds, he hides the notepad underneath his pillow. 

The next morning after the nurse has been by and given him food and all his pills, which are mostly vitamins. They told him it was for quicker recovery and for muscle memory, since he’ll have to stay healthy for when he’s let out. 

As soon as she leaves he pulls out the notepad to look over, he’s scared at first, if he’ll remember again, he’ll have an episode like last night, but he just wants to keep it a secret for now. It’s funny how he’s been waiting for the moment he would remember, so he could finally move along in the process, but after thinking for so long, he’d suddenly got scared of what was to come. He’d spent countless nights laying in bed for hours thinking about what this all meant. Had the earth as he knew it ended? 

Suddenly Kyungsoo starts thinking. A meteor was crashing towards Seoul. What if it actually had destroyed Seoul? And there was more coming, and they had all destroyed everything. what if he was on a space station? 

“Wow honestly what are the odds of that Do Kyungsoo” he shakes his head at himself, but the fear isn’t that easily shaken off. 

The next couple of days Kyungsoo lives in fear of his memories. He’s too scared to talk to anyone about it and he keeps himself occupied with writing small notes.

 

_I’m scared_

 

_Where am i?_

_What does the world look like????_

_WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO BAEKHYUN_

 

 

He knows it’s best telling his doctor that he remembers. He had tried so hard to remember and he should’ve known he wasn’t going to be happy about the memories. And now that he knows what possibly happened to the world he thought he knew, he’s scared of it.

 

_Today was even scarier... I swear I felt like I was in space? Maybe this is a space station…._

_But if it’s a space station... then when did they make it and how does the entire world fit up here_

_I’ve lost all my appetite_

 

  

Catherine enters like she does every morning, with a big smile and a tray with food and pills. She gives him the tray of food and he starts eating as she gets his pills ready. 

Suddenly she stops what she’s doing and Kyungsoo looks up at her 

“Sweetie, I’m going to go find a doctor, take your pills.” she speed walks out of his room, and Kyungsoo is alone to wonder what’s about to happen. He reaches for his pills when he realizes what the plastic cup is standing next to. 

His notepad. 

This is it he thinks, there’s no running away from it anymore. 

She makes her way back into his room with a doctor in tow. “Hello Kyungsoo, I hear we got some improvement.” Kyungsoo sighs, “I guess.” He’d spent a whole week feeling sorry and scared for himself, and it only took him leaving his notepad out one time for him to be where he feared the most, at this moment. 

“I’m going to ask you a few questions, is that okay?” Kyungsoo looks off to the side. He has to move forward, there’s no reason to be stuck and lying here all day. This might be the time to get answers to his own questions. 

“Yeah, okay.” The doctor pulls a chair up to his bed and opens up his notepad. “Let’s see, can you tell me what you remember? Or where things seems to have changed in your memory?” Kyungsoo let’s out a deep sigh, it leaves his body with a tremble as he starts shaking. 

“I.. I” Catherine reaches over and wraps her arm around his shoulders, “Breathe in” Kyungsoo inhales and tries to calm down, “-it’s okay sweetie” Kyungsoo nods, while he fidgets with his fingers. He starts biting his nails, a bad habit he’s had since he was a child. 

Kyungsoo knows it’s time to get himself together.

 

 

Today his door is unlocked, he’s free to do whatever he wants to, except leave the actual hospital; but despite that he’s allowed to go anywhere he wants to. Catherine had explained the basic set up of the hospital but he only remembers where the common room is; for him and the other patients to hang out or do anything, other than sitting around alone in their rooms. 

It takes a while for him to get out of bed and make his way towards the door. He lingers by the door and window, taking his time, taking deep breaths. 

“Ok you got this Kyungsoo.” he goes for the doorknob and opens the door in one hard pull. Shocked he stands in the doorframe, his hand on the doorknob of the open door. He leans out and looks down the hallway, its all white and there’s no one walking around. 

Kyungsoo slowly lifts his foot, it hangs in the air a little before he steps out. He looks down the long empty hallway and sighs. It’s just as empty as his room. He starts walking with heavy unfamiliar steps, walking in the direction of what he thinks is the direction of the common room. 

The only windows he meets are the windows into rooms of other patients. All of them empty. His chest tightens, the feeling of being alone washes over him. Maybe he really was hallucinating all the times he saw _him._  

There’s no windows to the outside anywhere and he quickly starts feeling imprisoned. The walls become whiter, and he feels like they’re blinding him, he grabs onto one of them for support as his head starts throbbing, _just a small break_ he thinks. 

 

When Kyungsoo arrives at the first open door he finds himself walking slower. He makes his way there with light steps. He walks into a room with people, other patients, and Kyungsoo’s heart eases a little at the thought that he’s not alone. 

This must be the common room, he thinks.

He stands by the door skimming the room and looking at people. There’s two people in the corner playing chess and a group of people playing some game control in front of a TV. There’s also another couch set up against the opposite wall towards the door. There’s only one person sitting over there so he makes his way over to the couches to sit down. 

When he gets closer he gasps, _no way it’s him._

He must’ve changed his hair color; it’s a nice warm brown. 

“Kai!” the guy on the couch looks up at Kyungsoo, who’s being unnecessary loud. The guy looks confused but Kyungsoo doesn’t notice in his spurt of excitement. He runs the rest of his way over to the couches and the guy there widens his eyes as he looks around. 

“What the hell are you doing Kyungsoo?! Be quiet!” He whisper yells at him. His face looks shocked immediately after. He opens his book up and frantically starts what looks like reading, but obviously looks like he’s pretending. Nice try Kyungsoo thinks. 

Kyungsoo sits down next to him, with a heavy heart and a hopeful smile. The other tries to ignore Kyungsoo, but the latter isn’t giving up that easy. 

“Kai! Hey I’m so happy to see you!” Kyungsoo smiles at him but his eyes are reflecting how scared he is. He never remembered a _Kai_ in his actual reality, but he’s sitting here in front of him, so there must be something to it. 

“Uh, I’m sorry I think you have the wrong person?” Kyungsoo’s face falls. 

“Didn’t you just call my name?” he starts fidgeting with his fingers. 

“I don’t think I did, I’ve just been reading” the stranger goes back to reading, or rather pretending he is. 

Kyungsoo sighs; maybe it’s not Kai. 

He can’t get himself to stand up and leave so he just stays there and watches other people doing their thing. Sometimes he sneaks glances at the other and once in a while he catches his eyes staring back. The atmosphere is weird, and he might as well try and make a new friend out of this. 

Despite the fact that this stranger looks exactly like his imaginary fiancé and he definitely just called him his name. They’re basically strangers. 

“I’m sorry.. We got off to a wrong and weird… and awkward start, my name is Kyungsoo.” he offers his hand to the other with a timid smile. 

The stranger looks from his face to his hand hanging there in the air for him to take, he bites his lip not sure what to do this wasn’t how he was expecting him and Kyungsoo to meet again. 

“My name’s Jongin” he grabs the hand offered to him and returns back to his reading quickly. 

It’s funny. Kyungsoo should’ve noticed. Kai has never in his life put his eyes on a book, so it would be absurd for him to be sitting here reading, _I mean the end of the world does change us, but I don’t think it changes us like this._

 

 

_“Babe you should really read this book it seems just like something you would like” Kai eyes him, “Is there a movie version I can watch?” Kyungsoo scoffs, “No you big baby.”_

“What are you reading?” Jongin glances at him, before fidgeting a little with the pages. 

“It’s ‘The Mirror of Cassandra’ by Bernard Werber” Kyungsoo nods, trying to pretend he knows what book it is. Not that he doesn’t have a great excuse, I mean being in a coma for four years and having a messed-up memory is a pretty good one. 

“So, uhm.. How much do you remember?” Jongin looks up at him with surprise, “Oh I’m sorry I didn’t mean it to be rude, I’m.. I don’t really” Jongin puts his bookmark in his book and closes it. 

“It’s fine honestly, I remember pretty much everything” he eyes the other to see his reaction, but Kyungsoo just nods slowly, with a little pout on his lips. 

“I’ve been awake for about three months.. W-what about you?” Jongin’s not really sure how to act; he tried ignoring the other but seems like Kyungsoo had other plans. 

“I woke up about three weeks ago” Jongin tries his best to seem surprised, but he can tell by Kyungsoo’s reaction that gasping probably wasn’t what he should’ve done. 

But honestly what the fuck do you do in this situation? When Jongin obviously remembers the other and Kyungsoo surely doesn’t remember him yet. 

“Is it weird that I feel like I saw you by my room a few times?” _Oh shit_ Jongin thinks. This is it, this is when all his secrets spill. 

“I .. uh.. Like taking walks.” Jongin just wants to get away from this situation. 

“Oh.. yeah, I would too I guess.” Jongin nods along, his breathing uneven and his heart beating too fast. 

“Yup! Hey I’m sorry I gotta go, uh take a nap.” Jongin gets up and walks away as fast as he can. Weird, Kyungsoo thinks. 

Jongin stops outside the common room to breathe and get himself together. He wasn’t ready for Kyungsoo to just walk up to him like that, he hadn’t prepared for them to talk for their first time. 

He has to make up for it somehow, there’s no way he’s going to let his relationship with Kyungsoo end up like this. He walks back into the common room and walks straight over to Kyungsoo, still sitting where he left him. 

“Sorry about that.. first impression, I was wondering if you’d wanna go to the cafeteria and eat dinner with me later?” Jongin realizes as the words leave his mouth that it sounds like a date, but he’s not taking it back. 

Kyungsoo’s face lights up and his heart shaped smile blooms for one of the first times in here, “Yeah that’d be nice, like a date of sorts?” 

Jongin sputters, “Uhhh o-okay sure, if you wanna call it that”

  

 

Kyungsoo slams the door a little harder than he was expecting to. He leans against it; closing his eyes and taking a deep inhale. This is all a lot to take in. 

Jongin. His name is Jongin. 

And he looks exactly like Kai. 

Maybe he’s a model Kyungsoo once saw and his mind remembered him, because.. how do you not remember that face. 

There’s not long until dinner and Kyungsoo is trying to come up with all types of reasons as to where he’s seen Jongin before. 

He accidentally falls asleep, exhausted and relieved from all the overthinking.

 

  

Jongin sits alone at a table in the cafeteria. Him and Kyungsoo had planned to meet at 6pm but it’s been 20 minutes and he hasn’t turned up yet. He decides to give him another 10 minutes, before he’ll go looking for him. 

The clock ticks by and the 10 minutes pass faster than he thought they would. He bites his lip, worried if he forgot about their _date._

He finds Kyungsoo’s room in no time; his feet lead him there on command. He looks through the window to his room and finds Kyungsoo lying on his bed. He snorts at the sight of him fast asleep. 

He looks around before he walks in. 

Jongin walks over to the bed, he smiles at Kyungsoo’s sleeping form. He has a pout on his lips; he always does when he sleeps. 

He starts waking up and Jongin’s not sure what to do. He franticly looks around, but it’s too late for him to do anything. 

“Hm? Jongin?” he stretches his arms. 

“I _just_ got here.” Kyungsoo gives him a confused look. Jongin is half panicking, hoping this situation doesn’t seem creepy. 

“You were late for our … _Date_ , so I decided to go look for you.” He sits up and yawns. “I’m so sorry! I was exhausted and I just-” Jongin stops him, “Hey it’s fine. Do you still wanna go eat?” 

Kyungsoo’s stomach rumbles and they both look at each other before laughing. 

“Let’s go then.” Kyungsoo jumps off his bed and follows Jongin. He stretches as they walk together. It was nice having a little nap, but somehow it feels like he missed another four years. 

The cafeteria is on the floor underneath where Kyungsoo lives, so the walk isn’t that long, but they walk past a lot of different rooms on their way. 

Kyungsoo sees a room that catches his attention, “What’s in here?” 

Jongin walks after him, “It’s the library.” Kyungsoo’s eyes light up. Its not much, just a couple of shelves of books, but Kyungsoo oddly feels at home. 

“Some of your books are in here.” Kyungsoo is busy looking at all the books so he doesn’t catch what Jongin says. 

“How many of the books in here have you read?” He runs his fingers across a couple of the books spines. 

“Just a couple.” Jongin smiles at the other; he’s so cute. Kyungsoo’s stomach rumbles again and he’s brought out of his little moment. 

“Let’s go eat!” he exclaims, before almost running towards the door. 

 

 

Kyungsoo looks over at the food. He hasn’t had an appetite for a couple days now, but he’s excited about finally eating something. 

After they’ve eaten Jongin asks if they should take a walk again and Kyungsoo decides he has nothing better to do. 

They walk down the hallways in a nice peaceful silence. 

“So wanna tell me about this Kai dude?” Jongin tries to act cool about it, and he’s been curious for a long time. What if he was the reason for Kai’s existence? 

“What is there to tell? He’s just someone I made up.” Kyungsoo shrugs his shoulders. 

“True, but he looks like me?” he’s trying to bring up the subject, trying not to sound suspicious, but it’s hard; one wrong word and he could’ve said too much. 

“I guess he does.” 

“Do you miss him?” they turn a corner and find some stairs. Jongin has walked the hospital a couple times, but he’s never walked this far, he’s not really sure where this leads. 

“Right now, after meeting you, no I don’t.” they make their way up all the stair not stopping at any of the floors. “Is it because I remind you of him?” Kyungsoo looks him in the eyes, and Jongin smiles timidly at him. 

“No, you’re both so different.” 

When they make it to the final floor, they find it empty and even quieter than their own floor. 

“How?” they stop walking and turn to each other. 

“Well for starters you like reading and he definitely didn’t.” Kyungsoo smiles, “Seems like a boring guy,” they both laugh. 

“Do you wanna sit down?” Kyungsoo looks around, “Here? On the floor?” the younger slides down the wall and sits against it. He taps the floor next to him to indicate for Kyungsoo to sit down. 

They talk for hours in the empty hallway, until their eyes are falling shut. They agree to meet up tomorrow as they walk their separate ways. 

When Kyungsoo enters his room and starts getting ready for bed he thinks about Jongin and about how genuinely nice he is. It’s been a long and weird day, but he feels so content and _bubbly._

 

  

Catherine wakes him up to check on him. 

“There’s someone outside waiting for you.” she smiles smugly at him. “Who? Is it Jongin?” she nods and Kyungsoo quickly get out of bed and runs over to open the door. 

Jongin is sitting outside in the hallway with his book, and when the door opens he smiles at Kyungsoo. 

“Hey.” Kyungsoo smiles. 

“Hey, wanna go for a walk?” 

The nurse smiles at them from inside his room as she makes his bed. 

“I’m just gonna brush my teeth and wash up.” Kyungsoo runs back in his room and into his small bathroom. 

Catherine is about to leave when she turns to Jongin. 

“I know you’re going to take good care of him Jongin.” he smiles at her. 

“But you’re still worried.” she sighs, “Yeah, he might look happy, but we never know. You know I told you he was having a hard time.” Jongin nods and Kyungsoo comes back out just as he’s about to answer her. 

“What are you guys talking about?” Jongin and Catherine looks at each other, “Just.. you”. Kyungsoo laughs, not believing him.

 

  

They make their way back to the empty hallway, Kyungsoo checking every room on their way there. 

“How long do you have to be in here before you can leave?” Jongin sighs, he knew the other would have all these questions at some point. 

“When you remember everything, they’ll evaluate if you’re ready.” they sit down against the wall and Kyungsoo sighs. 

“Are you scared?” Jongin looks over the others features. He can tell he’s scared and he doesn’t want to say the wrong thing. 

“I’m not scared, are you?” Kyungsoo curls into a ball, with his arms wrapped around his knees. 

“Yeah…. it scares me to know I have no idea what happened to the world.” Jongin nods slowly, 

“I used to be scared, right when I woke up, but having you to talk to helped a lot.” Kyungsoo lifts his head and looks at Jongin. 

“I wasn’t here?” Jongin panics, he wasn’t thinking before he spoke.

“Yeah, but I just knew someone to talk to was gonna come along… and it made me calm” Kyungsoo narrows his eyes at him _, that was odd_. 

“Don’t worry about the outside, they’ve probably been using the last four years on rebuilding” 

Kyungsoo fidgets with his fingers and plays with his nails, “I’m still scared. You know how easy it is to be scared of the unknown.”

 

 

Kyungsoo is back in his room later and he brings out his notepad. Jongin’s been a little weird. He says stuff that doesn’t make sense and Kyungsoo is starting to question it. He really likes hanging out with Jongin, he’s so kind and it’s easy to talk to him. He feels like he already knows him, and Jongin is also acting like he knows him. 

He’s been having nightmares lately and he’s not sure what to do about them. He dreamt he got out of the hospital and there was nothing there. That _everything was burned to the ground._

 

 

They meet up every day and Kyungsoo gets more and more suspicious of Jongin. There’s something weird about the stuff he says sometimes. 

They usually go to the hallway to talk but on a rare occasion they go to the library to look at books. Jongin would tell him which ones he’s read before and when Kyungsoo was ready Jongin showed him his own books. He also found it pretty interesting that the other knew where those were, but also that they existed. 

He wondered if maybe Jongin was some kind of fan of him before. Since the other liked reading so much it just made sense.

 

 

They’re in the cafeteria eating lunch when Kyungsoo brings it up. 

“Did we know each other before?” Jongin stops eating. He’s shocked by the sudden question.

He sighs before starting, “I guess we did.”

“Oh.” he had expected it, but now he just feels bad about it. He doesn’t remember Jongin at all, and that breaks his heart. He wants nothing more than to remember Jongin right now.

 

  

That night Kyungsoo comes back to his room late. He and Jongin was out talking for a really long time. He’d rather stay up all night talking to him, but Jongin insisted they sleep.

Sometimes Jongin tells him stuff that he feels like he’s already told him before. Like yesterday he told him about the time someone fell in the cafeteria and their food went everywhere. And he got a major déjà vu feeling from the story. 

Jongin though, just the thought of him makes him smile. 

He pulls out his notepad to write on.

 

_Jongin?? What are you doing to me?_

_He makes me.. happy._

_Even though I’m scared and afraid, its like he’s a safe place._

  

“Let’s go to the library after breakfast” Kyungsoo only nods in response. He had a nightmare again last night and today he’s feeling anxious. 

“Are you okay?” Jongin is feeling concerned for him. 

“Yeah I.. I’ve just” he sighs, “I’ve been having nightmares” the other gapes at him. 

“Tell me about them.” 

“it’s.. about the outside, sometimes about how many people I don’t remember. Like I’ll be walking on a empty field with people coming up to me and everyone just asking me if I know them. It stresses me out. I’ve been having anxiety about it.” He’s just blurting everything out, that’s what Jongin does to him, he makes it so easy to talk to him. 

“Last night I dreamt the meteor fell and I was running from it and the waves from the meteor crash was right behind me and I..” Jongin takes his hands in his, he rubs them in a soothing way, “You don’t have to tell me everything that happened.” 

“Do you get nightmares too?” 

“No I haven’t had any” Kyungsoo’s face falls. 

“You’re strong though, I know that Kyungsoo, don’t let the fear get to you” 

“But why the nightmares?” He feels tears pricking his eyes. 

“The brain is a funny thing, it has weird ways of telling us the things it wants us to know.” a tear escapes his eyes and Jongin catches it with his thumb, wiping it away.

 

  

When Kyungsoo’s had some time to calm down they walk down to the library. They walk to the back and sit down against the shelves opposite each other. Jongin pulls out a book from the shelve behind him and randomly starts reading aloud in a funny voice. Kyungsoo laughs and kicks him lightly. 

“Shut up Jongin.” he teases him, and Jongin just laughs along with him. 

When they’re done laughing Jongin continues to read aloud in a normal voice. Kyungsoo listens intensely, before he realizes this book is familiar. 

“I think I’ve read this.” the other stops reading and closes the cover to see the name. “Yeah I’ve read this to you before” Kyungsoo frowns, there it is again. 

“Jongin please explain all these random _yeah we’ve done this before_ moments to me.” the latter closes the book and puts it back on the shelve. 

“So I didn’t’ know how to ever explain this to you, but after I woke up and I was allowed out of my room..” Kyungsoo tilts his head, curious of what he’s about to say. 

“I used to come to your room and talk to you, sometimes I’d even read” Kyungsoo gapes at him, this wasn’t what he was expecting, but he’s not appalled by it. 

“That’s.. kinda weird, but cute I guess.” Jongin laughs, this is really awkward, but it’s fine, he feels more comfortable now that Kyungsoo knows.

 

  

After that conversation they hang out in Kyungsoo’s room more often and sometimes they sneak food from the cafeteria with them. 

They realize they’ve never played any of the games in the common room, so one day they set out to play all of them. That night Kyungsoo sleeps extra well, with the memory of Jongin’s laugh and the exhaustion of playing so much.

 

  

Today Jongin didn’t feel like walking all the way up to their hallway, but Kyungsoo had insisted, so he’d dragged him all the way there. 

They sit next to each other, with each their book. Its so nice having someone who enjoys the same things you do. 

Instead of reading Kyungsoo watches the other read. He’s so beautiful. 

“Jongin?” 

He looks up from his book, “Hm?” 

Kyungsoo looks Jongin in the eyes; they’re so beautiful he thinks. Nothing could beat the sparkle his eyes have. They shine brighter than anything he’s ever seen, brighter than the stars. The corner of his mouth pull, and a light smile blooms on his face. 

Stars? He thinks. His eyebrows furrow, one second Kyungsoo’s lost in the other’s eyes, but then his smile falls, falls like the meteors did that night and Kyungsoo remembers, he remembers everything, the pain and the fear. 

He gasps and grabs on to Jongin for support. “Kyungsoo?” Jongin grabs onto the others shoulders. Kyungsoo’s eyes are glazed over and his pupils blown up to full capacity. 

“Kyungsoo are you okay?” he shakes him, fear setting in, he’s scared and has no idea what’s going on. He’s never seen anything like this. Jongin had to think fast, he gets up to pick the older up off the ground, but Kyungsoo stops him. 

Jongin stands still as Kyungsoo starts stuttering, “I-I think.” tears fill his eyes and his throat closes up, words are hard at this point, but Jongin reaches out and pulls him into a hug. They sit for a while; Jongin is a patient man, that much Kyungsoo has already learned. Nothing like what Kai was.

“Jongin.” he pulls him into a hug. 

“I think I remember” he mumbles into his shoulder and Jongin just hums in acknowledgment. He smooth’s his hand down Kyungsoo’s back, but then he stills, his body freezes. He tries to pull away to look at Kyungsoo, but the other just holds on tighter. 

“Kyungsoo please.” he tries pulling at him but Kyungsoo groans in disapproval. Jongin sighs, ”What did you say Kyungsoo?” Kyungsoo loosens his grip on Jongin and their eyes meet again. 

Those eyes might’ve just reminded him of the horrible truth, but they still make him feel secure. Kyungsoo heaves a deep sigh and Jongin is so patient, his hand massaging circles into the elders arms. 

He gulps and looks deeper into the youngers dark brown eyes, “I remember the meteor.” it’s a whisper but Jongin hears it, and he answer with a tiny gasp, his grip on Kyungsoo’s arms tighten but he doesn’t hurt him. His sub consciousness is making sure Kyungsoo is rooted and secure. 

“How much else do you remember?” Kyungsoo rests his head against the wall; he’s feeling weirdly calm about all of this now. 

“I remember packing all my things in a hurry, because I’d been busy and had tried to leave last minute, which was a horrible idea, how’d I think I was gonna drive all the way to Busan and not get hit, when the meteor was supposed to fall any minute” he scoffs, but Jongin seems fidgety, he worriedly bites his lip. 

“I remember everything.. I really do” Kyungsoo’s eyes light up, but Jongin’s seems to darken, his hands slip off Kyungsoo’s arms. “That’s.. Great, maybe we can get discharged together then.” the younger nods quietly to himself. 

He’s still scared of the outside, but right now everything seems to look brighter. Kyungsoo throws his arms around the younger but the latter only lets out a pained laugh. 

“Don’t you think there’s someone or something you might be forgetting?” Kyungsoo pulls back, “What do you mean? I remember Baekhyun and Junmyeon, I also remember Baekhyun’s awful boyfriend” the older makes a gagging noise, but Jongin honestly feels like throwing up.

 

_Could Kyungsoo have forgotten him?_

“Jongin? You don’t look good, are you okay?” he starts feeling around for if Jongin might have a fever or something, but Jongin pushes his hand away, Kyungsoo gasps. 

“I’m fine hyung” the younger gets up and he’s ready to leave, ready to leave Kyungsoo there on the floor in the hallway, in _their_ hallway.

 

  

Kyungsoo watches him walk away; listening to the pitter-patter of the younger’s shoes as they hit the floor in the empty hallway. But suddenly they mix with memories of the same sound, of the same sound of Jongin walking down an empty hallway, away from him. 

He gets up, and he runs after the younger, his heart is beating in his chest and his pulse is throbbing. 

“Jongin!” the younger is hunched forward as he speeds up his walking, he’s crying and it breaks Kyungsoo’s heart. How could he forget Jongin? He remembered everything and every one, but he forgot the boy he’d been pining after for forever. His tall dark and handsome next door neighbor, the boy who got his packages when he was too busy to come to the door, the boy who lied about having left over food and offering it to Kyungsoo cause he knew he was busy. 

The boy who knocked on his door and made sure he had left _that day_ , the boy he told to leave cause he was busy and frustrated, the boy that walked down the empty hallway back to his own apartment. 

“Jongin I remember!” Kyungsoo stopped running but the younger kept walking, Jongin knows he remembers, he knows he remembers everything _but_ him. He wasn’t that important anyways. 

“I remember you Jongin!” the younger stops walking just as his heart stops beating. Kyungsoo runs up to him and he turns him around, there’s tear tracks running down his face and Kyungsoo pulls his sleeve over his hand to dry them up. 

But Jongin starts crying harder, “Nono Jongin please don’t cry I remember you.” but Jongin shakes his head, “Now that you remember me, you probably don’t want anything to do with me again, right?” Kyungsoo’s surprised, his hands leave the youngers face. 

“What do you mean Jongin?” he tries to stay calm, but it comes out shaky. 

“I’m just the boy next door hyung” a low sob escapes Jongins mouth, “The boy next door with a ridiculous crush on you.” it’s weird seeing Jongin cry, he’s always been the strong and mature one of them in here, but we all have our weaknesses, and Kyungsoo is Jongin’s. 

Kyungsoo’s smile takes up his face again; his eyes crinkling in happiness, “You had a crush on me?” he almost giggles as he asks. “Please don’t laugh at me hyung.. I still have a crush in you.” Kyungsoo smiles at him fondly and is about to answer when Jongin cuts him off “No! I like you! It’s more than a crush.. Now, I mean I’ve been with you for so long now, I’ve been by your side I’ve talked to you and.. I love you.” It’s almost a whisper the way he says it. 

“Jongin, I love you too.” they laugh together. This wasn’t how he expected today to go.

He brings their faces closer; their lips meet in a soft kiss. Its kind of wet from the tears, but it doesn’t fail to make his heart beat faster.


End file.
